The Gordon Research conference on "Oxidative Stress and Disease" is designed to provide scientists from a wide variety of disciplines with state of the art knowledge on reactive oxygen species and their influence on disease mechanism and etiology. This research conference is held every two years, and the next meeting will be held March 8-13, 2009 in Il Ciocco, Italy. This is a relatively young Gordon Research Conference and this will be the 5th time the conference is held. Our attendance has grown significantly since the first conference and we expect another productive and stimulating conference in 2009. The underlying focus for this particular conference is the role of oxidative stress in aging and age-related disease. The program for the meeting has been assembled to focus on the most recent advances in research studying the role of oxidative stress and its relationship to the fundamental biology of aging and age-related diseases. Sessions will cover the role of oxidative stress in aging, protein oxidation and degradation in age-related disease, mitochondrial dysfunction in diabetes, and the role of oxidative stress in ALS, inflammation, and the pathobiology of skeletal muscle during aging. Sessions on two cutting edge areas of oxidative biology, redox signaling and oxylipins are also planned. In addition, Dr. Bruce Ames, a long time, leading researcher on the effect of dietary intake on mitochondrial oxidative damage and aging, will present a Special Lecture entitled: "Delaying the Degenerative Diseases of Aging". The speakers listed in this program were selected based on the suggestions from the co-chairs, selected discussion leaders and attendees at the past conference and represent current and future leaders in the field. All speakers have been invited to present their latest research on the impact of oxidative stress in a variety of age-related disease processes. The meeting also features two poster sessions of two days each during which we anticipate at least 70-80 abstracts will be presented as posters. The poster sessions are an important part of the conference as they allow registrants to participate directly in the meeting by presenting their data. The main strength of the Gordon Research Conference format is the opportunity offered for scientists in different disciplines to interact in an extended and uninterrupted fashion. Such interactions support the development of new collaborative research initiatives and strengthen the research community. The Gordon Research Conference on Oxidative Stress in Disease plays an important role in exploring frontier research in the role oxidative stress in the initiation and etiology of a variety of disease processes, and in the 2009 meeting we will focus in particular on those associated with aging, bringing together leading researchers in these two important and inter-related areas. We are requesting funds to partially support travel subsistence and registration costs for speakers and discussion leaders from the United States and abroad and for productive young scientists, graduate students and post-doctoral candidates. This application is to request funds to partially support the 2009 Gordon Research conference on "Oxidative Stress and Disease" to be held March 8-13, 2009 in Il Ciocco, Italy. This conference allows scientists from a wide variety of disciplines to hear the latest findings in the field of oxidative stress and reactive oxygen species and their influence on disease mechanism and etiology. The underlying focus for this particular conference is the role of oxidative stress in aging and age-related disease. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This application is to request funds to partially support the 2009 Gordon Research conference on "Oxidative Stress and Disease" to be held March 8-13, 2009 in Il Ciocco, Italy. This conference allows scientists from a wide variety of disciplines to hear the latest findings in the field of oxidative stress and reactive oxygen species and their influence on disease mechanism and etiology. The underlying focus for this particular conference is the role of oxidative stress in aging and age-related disease.